


Your hands are so warm... have they always been?

by RaysTheDead



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: F/M, Gen, M/M, One-Shot, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-01
Updated: 2020-12-01
Packaged: 2021-03-10 02:07:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,647
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27826534
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RaysTheDead/pseuds/RaysTheDead
Summary: After Dimitri bares his soul for the professor in the rain, they care for him with such great tenderness he begins to re-evaluate himself, and his feelings.
Relationships: Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd/My Unit | Byleth
Comments: 6
Kudos: 45





	Your hands are so warm... have they always been?

**Author's Note:**

> Literally could not stop thinking about this moment and what would happen after idk just take it  
> They/them pronouns for Byleth so it can be gay if you like <3

"Your hands are so warm... have they always been?"

Dimitri realised it wasn't exactly a brilliant observation, but with the feeling as though the very ground beneath him could crumble at any moment, it was all he could muster. Byleth simply smiled, and took his hands in both of theirs, their warmth encasing his fingers gently. Their fingers curled around his own, and their other hand returned to their side, and gave Dimitri a gentle tug.

"Let's get you out of this rain, you're soaking wet."

Dimitri's lips thinned, Byleth was in the rain too, and just as soaked through as he was... but he allowed his professor to lead him along, walking at a slow and steady pace. Dimitri felt ridiculous, being pulled along like a child being led by a parent, but in the same breath... the comfort and warmth their professor was currently showing him was one he has been lacking for so long. Dedue had ensured that he wanted for nothing, but this... Byleth had no reason to show such kindness to him. If it weren't for him, perhaps Byleth would be safe and sheltered somewhere, perhaps Jeralt would still be alive, perhaps Edelgard's tyranny would not have reached the extent it did in response to his rampage, perhaps Faergus...

"Hm, no." Byleth was peering into the training barracks. "There's too many people about." They pulled Dimitri along in a different direction this time, and it was as though all the 'perhaps' 'what if' and 'if only' thoughts went to the back of his mind. His eyes were fixed on the professor's hand, wrapped around his own. He had spoken rather unkindly to the professor ever since their return, pushing them away, threatening to kill them if they stood in his way, sometimes ignoring them altogether when they visited him in the cathedral. What right did he have to recieve such kindness from the professor now? Witnessing Rodrigue's death did not erase the awful things he had said and done. Dimitri's brow furrowed more and more by the second, Byleth stopped abruptly and turned on their heels outside of the Officers Academy classrooms.

"Dimitri, stop."

"E-Excuse me?"

"I can't know what you're thinking exactly, but I know it isn't good. I'm asking you to stop, at least until we get inside."

"How could you...?" Dimitri whispered, intending the words to be for himself, but Byleth ensured they were not.

"You think I don't know my own student, the house leader no less?" A small smile crept to their lips. "If you must know, your breathing gets unsteady and you tend to grunt and mumble a lot to yourself when you're in a spiral. You always have, even before your breakdown." Dimitri blinked, he hadn't noticed. "I know snapping out of this won't be easy, but if we can pause it until you're inside..." Dimitri nodded silently, taking a deep breath to steady himself. Normally he would have retorted, swore the professor couldn't know what he was going through, cursed them for stirring up his feelings like this, but now... now was different. Now the very pillars and cornerstones of his worldview had been crushed by Rodrigue and the professor both. All he could do was follow.

Byleth had lead him to their quarters, Dimitri had very rarely spent time here outside of reporting on group tasks, and addressing concerns within the house. It was humbling to know the professor's room was much the same as everyone else's, though he wished they had been placed on the upper level with the nobles. There were many times he had to hammer on Sylvain's door to ask him to keep it down, or walk that poor girl home, or pry Felix away from whoever he deemed worthy of the business end of a sparring sword in the hallway.

"You're smiling already." Byleth was smiling as well while they closed the door behind them both.

"Just... reminiscing." Dimitri spoke softly. "I always liked having you so nearby."

"So did every other student in Garreg Mach, I bet Hanneman never got a wake-up knock at three in the morning asking to break up an argument, or hold someone's hair while they threw up in the plants outside."

"You supported us," Dimitri mumbled as he felt his cloak being lifted from his shoulders "just as you're supprting me now."

"I'm your professor, Dimitri. That's my job." Byleth smiled as they hung up his cloak, now much heavier with the rain. Dimitri suddenly felt smaller without it looming on his shoulders, more vulnerable, he shuddered before more unpleasant thoughts could come. He opened his eye when he felt something else placed on his shoulders, a towel, and Byleth's fingers rubbing into his scalp.

"I don't know any other professor quite like you." Dimitri slowly sat down on the chair at the desk to make things easier for his professor. He amd Sylvain had often joked about being taller than their own teacher, though Dedue had towered above everyone. He closed his eye, allowing himself to enjoy the feeling of someone caring for him so tenderly. He took a deep sigh, but it was cut short when a he felt a lock of his hair tugged.

"Sorry." Byleth spoke quickly, with a slight huff following it. They picked up the hairbrush from a shelf on the desk and began running it through Dimitri's locks, he remained quiet, unsure what to make of the situation. "I understand personal grooming is nowhere near a priority for you..." Byleth spoke while they worked out a knot with the brush "but moving forward, you must allow yourself to take care of yourself, understand?"

"Yes, professor." Dimitri responded, and was met with Byleth's arms around them. He tensed up, and froze. It was unlike the professor to display such... raw emotion. They let go once Dimitri placed a hand on their arm, and silence filled the room once more.

"Do you know that's the first time you've called me 'professor' since five years ago, when you were my student?" Byleth finally spoke, albeit quietly.

"Is it?"

"Yes." He could hear a smile in Byleth's voice, and felt a smile of his own creep to his face.

"Thank you, professor." He bit his lip, urging his eyes that was filling with tears not to spill. He tried to focus on the movements of their hands on his scalp, but it was no use. He hated crying in front of anyone, it wasn't that he didn't trust the professor, but he felt so... childish.

"Pleasure's all mine, my dear student." Dimitri felt the top half of his hair being pulled back. Was that... a hair tie? Locks were pulled back from his face, though some returned and fell back over his brow. "There, that should make things easier for you, I've wanted to do it ever since you grew your hair out." Dimitri's hand found its way to the back of his head, and found the small amount of hair Byleth had tied back, held by a thin hair tie.

"Where did you get the hair tie from? You don't..."

"You'll never guess." Byleth smiled as they took Dimitri's hand, and led him over to sit on the bed with them. "Go on, guess."

"Hm," Dimitri paused. His mind was still chaotic, but he knew the professor was giving him a small focus. What harm could there be in humouring them for a moment? Anything that kept the dark corners of his own mind at bay was welcome at this stage. "Ingrid or Annette would be too obvious, as would Mercedes or Flayn." Dimitri's eyes drifted, and he was sure he could see a figure begin to approach the window... but Byleth began to undo his gauntlets, and the movement and noise distracted him. "...Sylvain. He used to keep small things around to give as gifts for the girls he would chase."

"Nope, Felix." Byleth chuckled softly as they slid one of the gauntlets off, leaving Dimitri's skin exposed to air, and cold. "My hair got caught in my armour during a sparring session with him. He huffed angrily and took one off his wrist then and there, ranting about practicality and appropriate battle attire, and how as a mercenary I should know better." Byleth smiled as they began to work on the next gauntlet, and Dimitri found himself returning it. Had the professor always been this talkative?

"That sounds like something he would do. He cares a lot for everyone, deep down... he prefers not to show it."

"I think you're both rather alike." Byleth smiled up at him, their green eyes reading him far too closely. "You've both lost so much... you put up such a hard exterior, but once I started to pick up on your mannerisms... both of you, it was comforting to know how much you both still care."

"Of course I care about you professor, I..." Dimitri stopped himself before he said any more, he knew he had not shown as much in the past few months.

"I know." Byleth smiled softly as they removed the second gauntlet and placed them at the window, and began to unbuckle Dimitri's chest plate. "I always knew. The heart does not forget so easily... but it helped when my name was mentioned while you were speaking to... in the cathedral."

"How often... did you hear?"

"Not very often. After a few attempts at snapping you out of it I would leave until you either finished or needed help."

"I... can hardly remember sometimes..." Dimitri held his head in his hands while feeling the gentle release of the breastplate buckles being undone one by one. "They all seem to just... merge into one sometimes. I would occasionally feel as though I was having the same conversation one after another, over and over until-"Byleth shushed him softly, running thier hands over his hair, down his scalp, around his ears, down his neck, and back to his armour.

"I know."

"Professor, I... I..." Dimitri wanted to speak, but the words snagged in his throat.

"No need for words." The breastplate was removed and set aside, and Dimitri felt himself slouch instantly, and Byleth quickly got to work on the rest of his heavy armour, until he remained in his undershirt and trousers, with a towel draped across his shoulders. "I know." Byleth gently pulled Dimitri closer, until his head was resting on their shoulder heavily.

"Professor... Byleth, I..."

"Dimitri," Byleth spoke softly, resting a hand on Dimitri's cheek, "I know. Rest now."

* * *

Dimitri did as he was told, though he was unsure if he managed to get any sleep. It seemed as though one moment he was struggling to stay conscious, then the next he was jolting awake form a night terror, only for Byleth to hold him gently until his both his head and heart were at peace again. After what felt like the hundreth time of this happening, Dimitri gave in with a sigh, and took to reading over the professor's shoulder instead.

"What book is this?"

"It's about a prince and his tactician, fighting monsters from another world in the future." Byleth spoke without looking up from the pages.

"I thought you were reading about the history of Fódlan." Dimitri eyed the stack of books Byleth had on the nearby sill, many with bookmarks sticking out of them.

"Fiction helps me at times like this, I can't concentrate on tactical problems and non-fiction after something like this happens. It... reminds me too much of Jeralt." Dimitri suppressed a sigh, and leaned into his professor instead, hoping an intent of comforting thoughts would somehow reach them.

"Professor..." he began, "what do I do now?" He spoke softly, barely even audible.

"What do you mean?"

"I must approach the others, and we must think about our next move against the Empire, we cannot-"

"The Empire is far away, Dimitri." Byleth's hand found his cheek again. "They won't attack us now, we have time to breathe, and rest." Byleth smiled softly. "As for the others, I believe an apology, and addressing the situation would be the best move to make first. An apology alone will not fix things, nor will it bring back those we lost. We cannot change what is done, but we can change our future, and put our best foot forward with our best intentions." Dimitri closed his eye to prevent more tears falling, with mixed success as he almost definitely left a small damp spot on the professor's shoulder. "Funny, that's a staple of this book... changing the future."

"Do you think some things in our future are simply meant to be?"

"No, I don't think so." The professor paused, and turned their ring around their finger. Dimitri had assumed it belonged to Jeralt, as they only began to wear it after his death. "Some things are very difficult to change... such as my father's death. I tried very hard to change that. I still think I could have done more to save him... but that doesn't mean I haven't accepted it."

"How could you- you returned to work so fast- I thought- I was ready to- we were all-" Dimitri's words muddled, as all the sentences he longed to say became one.

"You, Dimitri. All of the Blue Lions in fact." Byleth smiled, taking his hands in their own, their warm, loving hands. "You all helped me push through. Even now, when I was sleeping for five years, one of the first things that crossed my mind when I woke was the promise I kept to my students to return to Garreg Mach. I knew that if I returned to teaching, watching your faces light up when you answered a question right, watching Annette stumble as she rushed to her seat, watching Mercedes try to help everyone as soon as she understood, watching Ashe apologize for asking too many questions, watching you pretend not to notice Sylvain copying your work until he became so obvious you scolded him while he laughed... I knew that things would become steady again. Not normal, goddess forbid anything should be normal at this damnable academy, but stable again. Life marches on, I could either lose myself under its feet or return to the march and find my own pace."

Dimitri's world had been turned upside down so many times in his life, he had given up on ever righting himself. For so long, he had put on a brave face, and played a perfectly composed Prince. For so long, he had given up on finding a place where he belonged after the attack on Garreg Mach and resigned himself to being a beast. For so long he had desired to be close to his professor like this, whether he knew it or not. Byleth's words seem to ring in his mind, opening a door he had never seen, a rescuing hand saving him from getting lost in the turbulent waves of grief again...

"Professor?"

"Yes, Dimitri?" Byleth smiled.

"Dedue and Gilbert tell me you regularly lead training sessions in the Cardinals' room, and that they are structured much like your lessons from the Monastery."

"Well, Manuela and Hanneman taught me a thing or two about recycling lesson plans, yes..." Byleth's brow furrowed.

"I should like to attend, If you'd have me." A smile crept up on Dimitri, he didn't even realise his expression until Byleth was smiling too.

"Dimitri... I'd be thrilled to have you in my class again." Before either of them knew what was happening, their arms were around each other, holding each other so tightly, as though their lives depended on it. As Dimitri shakily inhaled, the professor's scent bringing tears of nostalgia to his eye once again, he swore to himself to never let this wonderful teacher slip from his grasp again.


End file.
